Bowling grip ball



July 23, 1957 w. A. SHETLER aowuuc GRIP BALL 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.7, 1953 v...l M} x 3 M 3 mi L 3 INVENTOR. h /L L/AM ASHETLE BY MM,MCZL

A 7'7'0RNE vs.

July 23, 1957 w. A. SHETLER BCWLING GRIP BALL 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledDec. 7. 1953 Jig). 3

. INVENTOR. lV/L L IAMA. SHETL ER,

I :E I a 2 7 7 'I lllllllll 'lY IHH I I I F ATTOR/VE Y5.

United Sttes My invention relates generally to the measuring art, andmore particularly to a new and useful grip ball by means of which theprospective purchaser of a bowling ball can readily determine withextreme accuracy the size, shape and relative position of the thumb andfinger holes for his natural grip.

It has been my experience over the past several years during which Ihave been closely associated with this field that prior art grip ballsare not entirely satisfactory for a number of reasons. For example, eventhose prior art balls which have a relatively large number ofdifferently positioned finger and thumb holes, and even those which havemeans for relatively displacing the finger and thumb hole members,provide only a limited number of different positions whereby they canonly approximate many natural grips and the purchaser utilizing suchgrip balls must often settle for the grip measurement which comesclosest to his natural grip. Also, some prior art grip balls do not havereplaceable thumb and finger hole members whereby to provide thumb andfinger holes of difierent size and shape,,and some of them arerelatively complicated, expensive and otherwise generally impracticaland unsatisfactory. Accordingly, there is a very real problem inaccurately measuring a bowlers natural grip, and the significance ofthis problem is readily apparent from the popularity of the sport ofbowling.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a gripball which will accurately measure any natural grip, right or lefthanded.

Another object of this invention is to provide a grip ball as aforesaidand wherein the thumb and finger hole members are readily detachable andreplaceable to provide holes of the correct size and shape.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a grip ball whereinthe thumb and finger hole defining members are readily moved to andsecured in the indicated relative position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a practical grip ballhaving the aforesaid characteristics and which is relatively simple andinexpensive in construction, extremely durable, and of the utmostutility in all respects.

A bowling grip ball acording to my invention is broadly characterized bythe provision of thumb and finger hole members displaceable to anyselected relative position within a predetermined range of relativepositions selected to accommodate any natural right or left handed grip.

In a presently preferred embodiment thereof a grip ball according to myinvention is characterized by the provision of separate first and secondmembers carrying in quick detachable relation thereon finger holeblocks, a third member carrying in quick detachable relation thereon athumb hole block, said members being displaceable each relative to theother in a first direction and said third member enabling displacementof the thumb hole block relative to said first and second mematnt bersin a second direction transverse to said first direction.

The foregoing and other objects will become readily apparent and a clearunderstanding of my invention had upon a perusal of the ensuing detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of my invention, taken togetherwith the accompanying drawings illustrating the same and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view through a grip ball according to myinvention, being taken about on line II of Fig. 2, and illustrates infull lines one relative position of the thumb and finger hole membersand in broken lines a second relative position thereof;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the grip ball of Fig. 1 illustrating bymeans of arrows movement of the thumb hole block relative to the fingerhole members;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken about on line IIl-III ofFig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a grip measuring mechanism according tomy invention illustrating the relative displacement of the finger holemembers; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View of one of the thumb and finger hole blocksand its carrying member indicating schematically the quick detachablefastening arrangement thereof.

Referring now more in detail to the accompanying drawings, 1 designatesa bowling ball body of spherical form and of a suitable material so asto approximate, when combined with my novel grip measuring apparatus,the weight of a standard bowling ball. Ball 1 is provided with asegmental opening 2 therein, opening 2 terminating short of the centerof ball 1 in a flat bottom arrangement and constituting a socket for thegrip measuring mechanism.

A liner having inwardly converging opposed end walls 3 and parallelopposed side Walls 4 is inserted in opening 2. in closely fittingrelation with the end and side walls thereof and is secured therein asby means of screws 5 extending through tabs at the lower ends of the endwalls 3. The liner side walls 4 are provided along their upper edgeswith slightly curved lateral flanges 6 conforming to the spherical formof body 1 and fitting on slightly recessed ledges 7 of ball 1, beingsecured thereto as by screws 3. Thus, the flanges 6 have their outersurfaces on a level with the outer surface of ball 1 to continue thespherical form thereof. Ball 1 is provided with vertically extendingrecessed grooves 9 at approximately the midpoint of the opposite sidewalls of opening 2, and the liner side walls 4 have cut-out guide-ways10 in alignment with grooves 9 for a purpose which will become apparent.

A hinge pin 12 extends between and through the opposed side walls 4 ofthe liner and is secured thereto as for example by flattening the endsthereof over the remote sides of walls 4, said hinge pin beingpositioned at the longitudinal mid-point of said side walls belowguide-ways 10 whereby its outer ends are readily accommodated by grooves9. A first hinge part 13 comprising a thumb block carrying memberextends transversely substantially the entire distance between sidewalls 4 and is provided at its lower end with spaced apart alignedbearing portions 14 embracing pin 12 for pivot ing about the axisthereof. Separate second and third hinge parts 15 and 16 comprisingfinger block carrying members are arranged in side-by-side relation tospan substantially the entire distance between side walls 4 and areformed at their lower ends with hearing portions 17 and 18,respectively, embracing pin 12 for independent pivoting about the axisthereof. It will be noted from Fig. 3 that bearing portions 17 and 18are positioned in 15 and 16 is mounted to be independently pivotal backand forth about pin 12 in a first direction.

Means are'provided for selectively adjusting the distance measured insaid first direction between part 13 and parts 15 and 16, and forretainingthe sarnein adjusted position, and these means are as followsin the herein dis- .closed preferred embodiment. A bracket Z O ofinverted substantially U-shape has its depending legparts secured to pin12 between bearing portions 14 and the side walls 4, andis formed with acenter opening therethrough. A primary adjusting member in the form of abolt 21 is providedat its upper end with a turning knob 22 and is rotat-,ably secured at its lower end to bracket 20 by extending :therein bylocking rings 23fbearingagainstiopposite sides of bracket 20' wherebybolt 21 ;is in; efiect -jou'rnaled. for rotation within bracketfZt}.-Bolt21; carries in'threaded engagement therewith asprea'ding plate'24and a guide plate 25 secured to the underside of'plate 24 as'by Welding.Asillustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, guide plate 25.is pro vided at itsopposite ends' with projections 26 which extend through the cut-outguide-waysiltland into grooves -9. Therefore, rotation of bolt 21 inopposite directions willcause plates 24 and 25 to move in averticaldirection along bolt 21.

U Coil springs 27 and 28 are positioned around hinge pin 12 betweenbearing portions 14 and 17 andbearing por- ,tions14 and 18respectively,one end 27, 28 of each of said springs engaging against hinge part 13 tobias the same toward plate 24 withthe opposite ends 27 and 28" ofsaidsprings bearing against hinge pa rts 15 and '16, re spectively.Thus, springs 27 and 23 resiliently urge the thumb and finger blockcarrying members toward plate ,24whereby movement of plate 24 in avertical direction 'varies the spacing between palt 13 and parts 15 and16, as will be more fully described hereinafter. If desired, otherspring arrangements accomplishing this result can be used. i

. As-previously indicated, parts 13, 15 and 16 comprise thumb and fingerblock carrying members. To this end,

part 13 is provided along its upper surface with a depending lip orflange 30 adapted to engage in a grooved recess 31 in a thumb block 32.Thumb block 32 is provided -with a-cylindrical bore 33 therein to forman opening or hole for a thumb. Block 32 is resilientlyurged againstpart 13 with its groove 31 engaging flange 30 as by means of aseries ofspring'fingers 34 each having a lower end 7 secured to part '13, as byWelding and/ or a strap 34 embracing the same and welded to part 13.Springs 34 also have *anupwardly and outwardly inclined intermediateportion 35 adapted to; extend. beneath'block 32 and an upright'portion'36 adapted to bear against the side of the block. It will be appreciatedthat by reason of the incli- .nation ofits intermediate portion 35spring 34 will resiliently bias block 32 into engaged position on' part13 ,to retain the same in assembled relationr A number of 2,799,94a H 7a .rthroughthe center opening thereingrbeingpositioned 4 The arrangementof spring fingers 34 for holding blocks 32, 37 and 38 in proper positionis extremely advantageous because the blocks can be readily detached forreplace.- ment by blocks having thumb and finger holes of a differentsize and/or shape. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 5, to

detach any of the blocks the block is pressed down, as"

indicated by the arrow a, against the action of spring 34 to theillustrated full line position. The upper portion of the block is thenswung away from the block carrying part, as indicated by the arrow b, tothe illustrated broken line position wherein the block is clear of thedepending flange and the block is then lifted outwardly as indicated bythe arrow 0. The blocks are replaced by reversing the above procedure.

I With the arrangement thus far described, finger blocks 37 and 3S andthumb block :32 are readily displaced toward and away from each other toany desired relative position within a predetermined range of positions,by simply turning bolt 21. Thus, plate 24 is shown in full lines in Fig.1 as being in approximately its uppermost position along bolt21and'springs 27 and 28 bearing against the block carrying parts 13, 15and 16 urge the same against plate 24, whereby in the full line showingthe thumb and finger blocks are the closest together that 7 can beaccomplished with the illustrated mechanism. The mechanism is arrangedso that no closer spacing will be required by any grip normally expectedto be encountered. By turning knob 22 to rotate bolt 21 plate 24 will bemoved downwardly along bolt 21, as for example toithe broken lineposition illustrated in Fig. 1, and as plate 24 is moved downwardly thethumb and finger block carrying members 13, 15 and 16 are spread furtherapart as indicated by the broken line showing in Fig. 1. Thus, it

will be appreciated that by simply rotating bolt 21 by means of thereadily accessible knob 22 the relative displacement between thumb block32 and finger blocks 37,

38 about the hinge axis can be selectively varied.

Also thumb block 32 can readily be moved in a dlrection parallel to pin12 to occupy any selected position "across finger blocks 37 and; 38Within a relatively wide range of positions. properly positioned withreference to the median line be- In'this way, the thumb block can between thefinger holes to accurately accommodate both left and righthanded grips. V

In addition to the above-described adjustments proyided by a grip ballaccording to my invention, I provide springs 34 are provided on thethumb block carrying part 7 p13 to permit said block 32 to be movedalong part 13 in whereby block32 can be moved to any selected positionalong part 13 ina direction transverse to the direction of .pivotingthereof, and will be resiliently retained in its selected position.Three spring fingers 34 are shown on part 13 in the preferredembodiment, but it will be under- :stood that a larger or smaller numbercould be used and that oneor more spring fingers of difierfent widthcould be used. "similarlygparts 15 and 16 are provided with fingerblocks '37 and38 bored as at 37' and 38 to provide finger holes andhaving grooved recesses 40 and 40' adapted'to engage depending flanges41and 41' onthe parts 15 and a further adjustment'wherein the fingerblocks can be moved relative to each other toward and away from thethumb block. To this end, secondary .spreading plates 44 and 45 aremounted on plate 24. Plates 44 and 45 have longitudinal slots 46 and 47therethrough and bolts 48 and 49 extend through said slots into threadedengagement with plate 24, whereby said plates can be moved along plate24 by loosening bolts 48 and 49, and can be secured in adjusted positionbytightening said bolts. Plates 44 and 45 can be retracted along plate24 to the position illustrated in Fig. 1, whereupon the finger blockcarrying members 15 and" 16 will bear'ag ainst plate 24. However,

should it be desiredto secure relative displacement be-.

tween finger blocks 37 and 38, the appropriate secondary plates 44, 45are readily adjusted to extend beyond plate '24 to engage the associatedhinge parts 15, 16. Thus, as

illustrated for example in Fig. 4, plate 44 is readily adjusted toextend slightly beyond plate 24 and plate 45 is readily adjusted toextend considerably therebeyond, caus-.

ing relative displacement of finger blocks 37 and 38.

In this way, a grip measuring device accordingto my invention is adaptedto accurately measure any natural grip, right or left handed, and it isparticularly noted that the various different adjustments encompassevery relative position within a predetermined range of relativepositions, as distinguished, for example, from a limited number ofpredetermined relative positions. Therefore, it will be seen that myinvention fully accomplishes the aforesaid object s. While but apreferred embodiment has been disclosed herein my invention is notnecessarily limited to the details thereof, and I intend that myinvention be defined by the appended claims.

Having fully disclosed and completely described my invention, togetherwith its mode of operation, what I claim as new is:

1. A grip ball comprising a generally spherically shaped body having arecessed sector therein, hinge pin means mounted in said recessedsector, thumb block holder means hinged to said hinge pin means formovement about the axis thereof, finger block holder means hinged tosaid hinge pin means for movement about said axis, and means for movingsaid thumb block holder means and said finger block holder meanssimultaneous ly and in opposite directions about said axis whereby toselectively vary the relative displacement thereof about said axis.

2. A grip ball as set forth in claim 1, wherein said finger block holdermeans comprise independently movable members, together with means forselectively varying the relative displacement of said members about saidaxis.

3. A grip ball comprising a body corresponding to a bowling ball andhaving recess means therein, a thumb block holder mounted in said recessmeans for movement back and forth in a first direction, separate fingerblock holders mounted in said recess means for independent movement backand forth in said first direction, first means for moving said thumbblock holder and said finger block holders simultaneously in said firstdirection to selectively vary the relative displacement thereof, secondmeans for moving said finger block holders in said first directionindependently of said thumb block holder and relative to each otherwhereby to selectively vary the relative displacement of said fingerblock holders, and means carried by said thumb block holder forselectively positionally adjusting a thumb hole block thereon in asecond direction transverse to said first direction.

4. A grip ball comprising a body of generally spherical form having asegment shaped recess therein, hinge pin means secured within saidrecess, separate thumb and finger block holder means hinged to saidhinge pin means for movement back and forth about the axis thereof, anexteriorly threaded member mounted in said recess between said thumb andfinger block holder means for rotation about an axis transverse to saidhinge pin axis, plate means threadedly engaging said member andextending between said thumb and finger block holder means, meansholding said thumb and finger block holder means against said platemeans whereby the latter determines the relative displacement of theformer, and means confining said plate means for movement along saidmember as the latter is rotated, whereby the relative displacement ofsaid holder means about said axis can be selectively varied by rotatingsaid member.

5. A grip ball as set forth in claim 4, wherein said holder meansinclude means for detachably securing thumb and finger hole blocksthereto.

6. A grip ball as set forth in claim 4, wherein said finger block holdermeans comprise independently movable parts each adapted to carry afinger block, together with means carried by said plate means forselectively displacing said finger block holder parts relative to eachother.

7. A grip ball as set forth in claim 6, wherein said thumb block holdermeans includes means for detachably securing a thumb hole block theretofor selective positional adjustment in a direction substantiallyparallel to the axis of said hinge pin means.

8. In a grip ball measuring device, a finger block assembly comprisingholder plate means for detachably carrying a finger block having arecess therein, said holder plate means having a projecting part adaptedfor engagement with the recess in the finger hole block, and leaf springmeans carried by said holder plate means and extending outwardlytherefrom and thence therealong to define with said holder plate means apocket for re leasably receiving the finger hole block, said leaf springmeans being adapted to resiliently urge the finger hole block againstsaid holder plate means with the recess interlocking with saidprojecting part.

9. In a gripball, a finger block assembly comprising, holder plate meanshaving an overhanging lip, a finger hole block having a recess in theupper portion thereof for receiving said lip when said block is heldagainst said plate means, and means for resiliently urging said fingerhole block against said holder plate means with said lip engaging saidrecess including a leaf spring member secured to said holder plate meansbelow said. lip and inclining upwardly toward said lip and outwardlyfrom said plate means along the bottom surface of said block and thenextending upwardly along the side of said block remote from said holderplate means.

10. In a grip ball measuring device, a thumb hole block having a recesstherein and a holder member therefor having an overhanging and dependinglip for engaging within said recess, and spring means carried by saidholder member below said lip and inclining upwardly and outwardlytherefrom beneath said thumb hole block to resiliently urge the sameupwardly against said lip, said spring means then extending upwardly toresiliently bear against the side of said thumb hole block to urge thesame against said holder member, whereby said thumb hole block will besecured to said holder member in quick detachable relation therewith,said holder member and said spring means being of a width sufiicientlygreater than the width of said thumb hole block to enable selectivedisplacement of said thumb hole block along said holder member.

11. The combination set forth in claim 10, together with hinge meansmounting said holder member for movement about a predetermined axis, andmeans for selectively displacing said holder member about said axis,said thumb hole block being selectively displaceable along said holdermember in a direction substantially parallel to said axis.

12. A grip ball comprising a generally spherical body having a recessedsector, a liner having opposed side walls secured in said recessedsector, said side walls having ali ned vertical cut out portions, hingepin means carried by said side walls beneath said cut out portions, athumb block holder and separate finger block holders hin ed to saidhinge pin means for movement about the axis thereof, an elongatedexternally threaded primary adjusting member supported within said linerfor selective rotation about an axis substantially normal to the axis ofsaid hinge pin means, spreading plate means threadedly engaging saidprimary adjusting member and having projections engaging in said out outportions whereby said plate means will move along said primary adjustingmember as the latter is rotated, means biasing said thumb block holderagainst one side of said plate means and means biasing said finger blockholders against the other side thereof, whereby movement of said spreading plate means along said primary adjusting member will vary therelative displacement of said thumb and finger block holders, andsecondary adjusting means carried by said spreading plate means formovement therewith and being selectively independently adjustable toextend therebeyond into engagement with said finger block holders forselective relative displacement thereof.

13. A grip ball as set forth in claim 12, wherein said secondaryadjusting means comprise separate plate members carried by saidspreading plate means, said plate members having cut out portionstherein, and pin means extending into said plate member cut out portionsand engaging said spreading plate means for releasably securing saidplate members in adjusted position thereon.

,,14.7 A grip ball comprising a body corresponding to a jbowling 'ball'and having arecess"therein, thumb block holdergmejarisfind fingerblockholder means'Yeach mounted saidjreciess for back andforth'movementina first direetion' relative to the other, saidfingertblock holder means being adapted to detachablyr carry 7replaceable jfinger' hole block means,said jthumb block holder meansbeing adapted to detachably carry alreplaceable thumb hole block,fonpositional adjustment thereon in a second fdirectipn transverse totsaid .first direction, and means fOrj simultaneously moving .lsaidtthumb block holder 7 V 1 hinged' to said hinge pin means for movementback and f orthtabout the'axis thereoffiifinger block holder meanshinged to said hinge pin means for movement back and forth about saidaxis, spreader'plate'means interposed between said thumb blo ck holdermeans and'said finger block holder means, means holding said thumb blockholder means and said fingenblock'holder means against the .relative'displacement of said thumb block holder ,means and saidfinger blockholder means about said axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS"2,207,404 'Hinkley July 9, 1940 2,314,811 Akin MEI. 23, 1943 2,503,324Collins Apr. 11, 1950 2,709,353

Rassner June 7, 1955

